John Kiriakou is right on target. We are truly a vengeful people
Despite our claim that our nation is founded on Christian Principles,
we challenge God's proclamation. "For it is written: "Vengeance is
Mine, I will repay, says
the Lord..."
But we just can't wait for God to slam our enemies to the mat. And I
say "Enemies" intentionally. We have come to believe that anyone who
breaks the Law is our enemy and as such, deserves to be put out of
Society. Our attitudes on punishment came to our shores with the
first Settlers from Europe. Vengeance and Eternal Damnation are so
ingrained in our basic beliefs that we have seen one effort after
another to reform our penal system, fail.
And because we have turned our backs, and turned off our compassion,
our prisons have morphed into Slave Camps.
At times I think, "What a different world it was back when I was a
boy". But it was not the world that was different. It was me. Even
as a poor child in a rich man's neighborhood, I lived a privileged
life. We were sheltered from so much of the ugly side of America, the
lynchings, the abuse, the discrimination and the abject contempt
heaped upon so many of our poor people. In my little world, I thought
all Americans lived like I did. As an adult, walking the streets of
cities like Seattle, I learned first hand about our inability to
forgive and to lift up our fallen brothers and sisters. Perhaps it is
not in our nature to change. Perhaps we will go to our extinction
unchanged. But I have to continue believing that so long as there are
those people who have the capacity of embracing the less fortunate,
and forgiving the thoughtless, and sharing from what they have to
offer, then maybe, just maybe we can survive.
Carl Jarvis
On 5/15/16, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Kiriakou writes: "We live in a system that seeks vengeance against those
convicted of crimes, a society that doesn't just want people to repay their
debts to society, but wants them to continue to suffer, both during and
after release. That's why there's no public outcry against the human and
civil rights violations that current and former prisoners face every day."
A solitary confinement cell at New York City's Rikers Island jail. (photo:
Bebeto Matthews/AP)
Exposing the Injustice of Vengeance Against the Convicted
By John Kiriakou, Reader Supported News
15 May 16
Prison Legal News (PLN), a magazine dedicated to prison reform and news
developments related to federal and state prison systems, has filed a
lawsuit against the Arizona Department of Corrections (DOC) after the DOC
banned four issues of the magazine because of "sexually explicit material."
What's the nature of this sexual material? It's four articles about prison
guards and other prison employees raping prisoners. The Arizona DOC actions
are not meant to ensure the smooth running of the prison system, as it
asserts, but instead to keep prisoners in the dark about official abuse,
malfeasance, and criminal activity. The DOC has sought to settle the case
out of court. Even they recognize that they're holding a losing hand.
The DOC's guidelines regarding prisoners receiving sexually explicit
material are clear. They state, "Sexually explicit material is defined as
publications that feature nudity and/or sexual behaviors/acts and/or the
publication is promoted based on such depictions." The description bears no
resemblance whatsoever to Prison Legal News, which contains only news
articles and the occasional advertisement.
This Arizona DOC's actions are not new to Prison Legal News. Indeed, PLN
has
filed dozens of lawsuits against the Federal Bureau of Prisons, corrections
departments, local jails, and states since 2000. Just this year, for
example, the Northwest Regional Adult Detention Center in Winchester,
Virginia, agreed to PLN demands that prisoners be allowed to receive the
magazine, after initially banning it and all other printed material.
Similarly, earlier this year the Nevada Department of Corrections agreed to
pay PLN $475,000 and to allow prisoners to receive the magazine after PLN
filed a federal suit there. PLN has had similar wins across the country
over
the past few years.
Other prisoners' rights organizations get far more news coverage than PLN,
a
publication of the Florida-based Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC). The
Innocence Project, for example, uses DNA evidence to work to exonerate
those
people wrongly convicted of murder and serving sentences of life, or even
death. Every Innocence Project win is major national news.
But it's the small and underfunded HRDC and PLN that work to defend
prisoners' rights on virtually every other issue. HRDC currently has
numerous lawsuits pending against the federal government, states,
municipalities, and private prisons, not only related to freedom of speech,
but also to prevent prisons from forcing released prisoners to accept all
of
their remaining commissary money on high-fee debit cards; to prevent
prisons
from banning all prisoner mail except postcards; and fighting the decision
made by several private prisons to ban in-person visits in favor of
expensive video-only visits. PLN and HRDC are also leaders in the fight
against substandard and incompetent medical care in prisons across the
country.
The question is why PLN is the only organization taking on these issues.
Frankly, in a real democracy, in a country that respects its own
constitution and the rule of law, PLN and an organization like HRDC would
not even be necessary. But that's not the society we live in. We live in a
system that seeks vengeance against those convicted of crimes, a society
that doesn't just want people to repay their debts to society, but wants
them to continue to suffer, both during and after release.
That's why there's no public outcry against the human and civil rights
violations that current and former prisoners face every day. That's why
there's no public outcry when prisoners die unnecessarily in prison because
of substandard medical care. That's why there's anger when governors
reinstate the voting rights of former felons.
Society won't change by itself. And certainly the lemmings in Congress
won't
lead the way. That's why organizations like HRDC and publications like PLN
are so important. They are the only voice for prisoners and for the human
and civil rights prisoners deserve.
________________________________________
John Kiriakou is an associate fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies.
He is a former CIA counterterrorism officer and a former senior
investigator
with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work.
Permission
to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader
Supported News.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink reference not
valid.
A solitary confinement cell at New York City's Rikers Island jail. (photo:
Bebeto Matthews/AP)
http://readersupportednews.org/http://readersupportednews.org/
Exposing the Injustice of Vengeance Against the Convicted
By John Kiriakou, Reader Supported News
15 May 16
rison Legal News (PLN), a magazine dedicated to prison reform and news
developments related to federal and state prison systems, has filed a
lawsuit against the Arizona Department of Corrections (DOC) after the DOC
banned four issues of the magazine because of "sexually explicit material."
What's the nature of this sexual material? It's four articles about prison
guards and other prison employees raping prisoners. The Arizona DOC actions
are not meant to ensure the smooth running of the prison system, as it
asserts, but instead to keep prisoners in the dark about official abuse,
malfeasance, and criminal activity. The DOC has sought to settle the case
out of court. Even they recognize that they're holding a losing hand.
The DOC's guidelines regarding prisoners receiving sexually explicit
material are clear. They state, "Sexually explicit material is defined as
publications that feature nudity and/or sexual behaviors/acts and/or the
publication is promoted based on such depictions." The description bears no
resemblance whatsoever to Prison Legal News, which contains only news
articles and the occasional advertisement.
This Arizona DOC's actions are not new to Prison Legal News. Indeed, PLN
has
filed dozens of lawsuits against the Federal Bureau of Prisons, corrections
departments, local jails, and states since 2000. Just this year, for
example, the Northwest Regional Adult Detention Center in Winchester,
Virginia, agreed to PLN demands that prisoners be allowed to receive the
magazine, after initially banning it and all other printed material.
Similarly, earlier this year the Nevada Department of Corrections agreed to
pay PLN $475,000 and to allow prisoners to receive the magazine after PLN
filed a federal suit there. PLN has had similar wins across the country
over
the past few years.
Other prisoners' rights organizations get far more news coverage than PLN,
a
publication of the Florida-based Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC). The
Innocence Project, for example, uses DNA evidence to work to exonerate
those
people wrongly convicted of murder and serving sentences of life, or even
death. Every Innocence Project win is major national news.
But it's the small and underfunded HRDC and PLN that work to defend
prisoners' rights on virtually every other issue. HRDC currently has
numerous lawsuits pending against the federal government, states,
municipalities, and private prisons, not only related to freedom of speech,
but also to prevent prisons from forcing released prisoners to accept all
of
their remaining commissary money on high-fee debit cards; to prevent
prisons
from banning all prisoner mail except postcards; and fighting the decision
made by several private prisons to ban in-person visits in favor of
expensive video-only visits. PLN and HRDC are also leaders in the fight
against substandard and incompetent medical care in prisons across the
country.
The question is why PLN is the only organization taking on these issues.
Frankly, in a real democracy, in a country that respects its own
constitution and the rule of law, PLN and an organization like HRDC would
not even be necessary. But that's not the society we live in. We live in a
system that seeks vengeance against those convicted of crimes, a society
that doesn't just want people to repay their debts to society, but wants
them to continue to suffer, both during and after release.
That's why there's no public outcry against the human and civil rights
violations that current and former prisoners face every day. That's why
there's no public outcry when prisoners die unnecessarily in prison because
of substandard medical care. That's why there's anger when governors
reinstate the voting rights of former felons.
Society won't change by itself. And certainly the lemmings in Congress
won't
lead the way. That's why organizations like HRDC and publications like PLN
are so important. They are the only voice for prisoners and for the human
and civil rights prisoners deserve.
John Kiriakou is an associate fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies.
He is a former CIA counterterrorism officer and a former senior
investigator
with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work.
Permission
to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader
Supported News.
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
